WWII heroes, athletes named to Storm Lake hall of fame

Storm Lake St. Mary High School named the 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame athletes that will be inducted at the Jan. 17 homecoming game, including the 1935-36 boys' basketball team. In addition to their athletic victories, 10 of the 12 members served in the military during WWII.

Other inductees will include Tim White, Class of 1987 and former boys' basketball coach, Brad Wilkening.

The induction ceremony will take place between the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ Homecoming games vs. East Sac County.
 
St. Mary's Athletic Hall of Fame was established to select and honor its teams, players, coaches, administrators and community members at any level who, by their demonstrated excellence on or off the field, have contributed to the growth or success of the athletic program at St. Mary's.  

1935-36 Boys’ Basketball Team

The 1935-36 St. Mary’s boys’ basketball squad was the first dominant athletic team at St. Mary’s, led by first year coach Alan Hudson, a 26-year-old former standout athlete at Independence High School. 

After starting the season 1-2, the team won 14 of its next 15 games, including two 7-game winning streaks. Following three victories in the diocesan tournament, St. Mary’s was derailed by a powerful 22-0 Clare St. Matthew team in the diocesan tournament championship game by a score of 21-12. 

As the diocesan runner-up, the team qualified for the seventh annual Iowa Catholic State Tournament where the team ended its season with an opening round 28-15 loss to Des Moines Dowling. St. Mary’s completed its season with a record of 15-5, the most wins in school history at the time, and was a perfect 10-0 in home games. 

The Catholic State Tournament brought together the top two teams from each of the four Catholic dioceses in Iowa to compete for the state title. Non-public high schools in Iowa were not allowed membership in the IHSAA until the fall of 1940 and were first allowed to compete in postseason IHSAA basketball competition in 1941. So during its 13-year run, the Iowa Catholic State Basketball Tournament provided Catholic high schools the opportunity to compete for a state championship. 

Scoring leaders for the season were Mike Kennedy (149 points), Quint Tymeson (58 pts), Bob Glowczewsky (43 points), John Gaffney (42 points), Ray Harrington (42 points), Dale Cavanaugh (36 points) and Ed Cavanaugh (35 points). Other team members included (later named Msgr.) Lawrence Bauer, Paul Belcher, Ed Carney, Glen Harrington and Ray Peck. 

The true measure of this team may not have come until after they left St. Mary’s. This remarkable group of young men took varying paths after high school and all were successful in their own ways. Ten of the 12 would eventually join the military after high school and served their country in World War II. One of them paid the ultimate sacrifice. Mike Kennedy died in 1943 when his B-24 bomber airplane went down over Denmark during an attack by German fighters. He was only 24 years old.

Of the two who did not serve in the military, one became a diocesan priest (Msgr. Lawrence Bauer) and the other was a successful local farmer. Four of the 12 would go on to have children who graduated from St. Mary’s High School. 

"It is important that we honor this early St. Mary’s team of nearly 90 years ago that was part of the greatest generation, and the made the school, the community and its families proud," from St. Mary's press release.

Tim White, Class of 1987

A three-sport standout at St. Mary’s, Tim White lettered three years in basketball and baseball and four years in golf for the Panthers. As one of the top all-around athletes in St. Mary’s History, he was a three-time All-Quad County Conference selection in baseball and a two-time All-Conference choice in basketball and golf. He was also an All-Class All-State Honorable Mention selection in both basketball and baseball as a senior.

As a 6’3” basketball star who played both guard and forward, Tim was the team’s leading scorer both his junior and senior seasons. His 887 career points rank 15^th in school history; his 498 pointsTim White as a senior is the eighth highest single season total at St. Mary’s, and his 23.7 average that year is the ninth highest single season average. 

As a baseball pitcher, Tim had a very accurate fastball and a snappy curve, with an outstanding ERA of just over 1.00 as a senior while leading the Panthers to within one win of the state tournament and a season record of 26-6. 
Tim’s performances on the golf course were outstanding. During his junior and senior seasons combined, he won meet medalist honors five times and reserve medalist (2^nd place) five times. As a senior, he shot a 9-hole average of 38.9 strokes with a best of 34, and an 18-hole average of 72 in the Storm Lake Golf Invitational at Lake Creek Country Club. As a junior, Tim’s 9-hole average was 40.5 strokes. 

Additional accolades during his senior year include All-CYO Tournament Team and Third Team All-Northwest Iowa in basketball. 



Brad Wilkening – Boys’ Basketball Coach 2005 – 2013

Brad Wilkening is the most successful basketball coach in St. Mary’s history compiling an overall record of 127-68 in 8 seasons, which earns him the highest winning percentage among Panther basketball coaches with 100 or more career victories. Those 127 victories are also the second most coaching victories among all St. Mary’s basketball coaches.

Coach Wilkening’s final four seasons were by far the most notable. During that time, his Panther teams won four consecutive conference titles on the way to an overall 4-year record of 102-5. They had at least 22 wins in each of those four years as well and ended with only one loss in three of them. During that time, he led teams to a 45-game winning streak, good for the 15^th longest win streak in Iowa High School history. 

The St. Mary’s boys’ basketball team made three consecutive trips to the state tournament in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 2011 team was crowned state champions after racking up an average margin of victory of 19 points in their three state tournament games. 
Coach Brad Wilkening (back row, left) and the 2011 state championship boys' basketball team
The 2013 squad finished as state runner-ups after a successful season that included four victories by more than 50 points and one record-breaking 75-point win. The 2012 team placed third at the state tournament. In nine total state tournament games, Wilkening compiled a 7-2 record. 

Wilkening coached three Panther All-State players and numerous All-Conference and All-Northwest Iowa selections, including recent St. Mary’s Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, Luke Lenhart and Kennedy Drey.